Top 25 fantasy football players after three weeks

Now that the first three weeks of the NFL season are in the books and starting the official bye weeks, I figured it might be interesting to take a look at the top 25 players (based on the scoring system for one of the leagues that Matt and I are in – non-PPR) and see if there were any surprises in the mix…of which there were a few. Keep in mind that it’s only been three weeks, but it’s interesting to note that potential first round picks LaDainian Tomlinson, Steven Jackson, Randy Moss, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady (a little different situation for Brady than for the others though) are no where to be found…

1. Philip Rivers, QB, SD – First of two young quarterbacks leading the league so far… 2. Jay Cutler, QB, DEN – …and the second. And to think, Cutler is here after missing his top receiving option for the first game. Expect to see these two quarterbacks on this list for a while. 3. Michael Turner, RB, ATL – Turner has been all that you could ever have hoped for through the first three games. While he probably won’t finish this high, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the top 15 at the end of the season. 4. Marion Barber, RB, DAL – The Barbarion is living up to his first round draft pick status. 5. Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB – Bet you didn’t expect to see Rodgers this high on the list, huh? 6. Reggie Bush, RB, NO – I think I remember hearing whispers of Reggie being a bust in the past…but he’s putting those concerns to rest with his performance so far this season. 7. Kurt Warner, QB, ARI – Simply amazing that Warner can keep producing at his age…now if only the team could reward him by winning for once. 8. Ronnie Brown, RB, MIA – Brown’s stats from week three alone were enough to boost him into the top 10. I expect to see a quick drop down the list as a few more games are played and he fails to maintain his godlike play from last weekend. 9. Drew Brees, QB, NO – Playing a little differently than he did through the first three games of last season… 10. Frank Gore, RB, SF – The second (and only other) top 10 draft pick that is actually in the top 10 at this point. 11. Donovan McNabb, QB, PHI – Producing with his primary targets all out with injury and a rookie receiver leading the way. 12. Matt Forte, RB, CHI – I guess the Bears made the right move when they ditched Cedric Benson and went for the rookie. 13. Eli Manning, QB, NYG – Continuing on the success that got him a Superbowl ring last year. 14. Julius Jones, RB, SEA – I guess MBIII’s running-mate from last year hasn’t faired all that bad on his own in Seattle…not sure he’ll keep up the pace though. 15. Anquan Boldin, WR, ARI – Here’s your top receiver of the year so far. As far as receiver duo’s go, Boldin/Fitzgerald are the new Harrison/Wayne. 16. Marshawn Lynch, RB, BUF – You can’t be all that disappointed if you drafted him as your top pick this year. 17. Santana Moss, WR, WAS – Can he keep it up? Probably not. But you’re not complaining right now with the production from your 6th-8th round pick. 18. Tony Romo, QB, DAL – Only top tier quarterback living up to the hype so far this year…and with his weapons at hand, I don’t see him falling off this list anytime soon. 19. Brett Favre, QB, NYJ – Hopefully his streak of games started doesn’t come to an end this weekend. It’s impressive to think that Favre can go to a team like the Jets and still put up the numbers of a top quarterback. 20. Brian Westbrook, RB, PHI – Westbrook would be much higher if he had been able to finish last week’s game instead of leaving with an injury. Hopefully he can get back on the field this weekend, as his five touchdowns through the first two games had his owners very pleased with themselves. 21. Willie Parker, RB, PIT – Parker is riding the coattails of his first game of the season, in which he blew up with three touchdowns (more than his total from last season.) With a knee sprain keeping him out of this weekend’s game, expect a replacement on the list shortly. 22. Brandon Marshall, WR, DEN – The fact that Marshall is on this list after only playing two games (he was suspended the first game of the season if you didn’t know) is pretty amazing. Only Boldin and Moss have more fantasy points…and they’ve both played in three games. 23. Adrian Peterson, RB, MIN – With a more balanced passing game in Minnesota now that Frerotte is behind center, I envision Peterson moving up this list with each passing week. 24. Jason Campbell, QB, WAS – Gotta give Campbell props…but I can’t see him on this list for that much longer. 25. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI – Warner’s option 1b…he’d probably be a bit higher if it were a PPR league.

So there you have it, the top 25 fantasy players after three weeks. How many of them are on your team?

[...] it’s been six weeks since the season started, and three since my last posting of the top 25 fantasy football players in the game. As I mentioned last time, this list is based on a non-PPR league that Matt and I are [...]